Mugabe ready to party in impoverished Zimbabwe

[Freddie Stubbs]

Source: Associated Press

HARARE, Zimbabwe (AP) -- As many as 10,000 people were converging on a town in southern Zimbabwe for President Robert Mugabe's 84th birthday celebrations, state radio reported Friday.

Many were traveling free on commandeered buses and trains, it said.

Organizers of Saturday's ceremonies said they raised about 3 trillion Zimbabwe dollars (or the equivalent of about $250,000 at the dominant black market exchange rate) for the bash amid chronic shortages of hard currency, gasoline, food and most basic goods.

On Thursday, Zimbabwe's central statistical office said the official rate of annual inflation in the country has rocketed past the 100,000 percent barrier, by far the highest in the world.

Read more: http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/02/22/mugabe.birthday/index.html